> Is he referencing a bunch of democracies I haven’t heard of [..]

Historically: Weimar Republic, Czechoslovakia in 1948, Italy starting 1922, Austria starting 1933.

More recently: Venezuela starting 1999

Halfway there: Turkey starting 2017, Hungary starting 2010

If you broaden past just nations to include various organizations that used to be democractically organized at one point, you could make a much longer list...